Hanabi looked down at the so-called vessel and sighed. "Come on up, little fella." She bent forward to grab his arm and pick him up.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, grabbed Hanabi's arm in a panic, and pushed her away.
"Stay away from me!" He screamed at her.
"Easy there, kid." Hanabi's face showed the look of someone done with everything, but she still tried to calm down the agitated teenager. "I'm going to take you to Konohagakure. You'll be safe there."
"Konoha…gakure?" He questioned with a confused expression.
"Yeah, you are currently in the Land of Fire," Hanabi said. "Your airship crashed in our jurisdiction. What's your name?"
"Ahh!" The teenager frowned and looked at his arm, which had a burn mark on it.
"I was fighting an Outer of Kara who was throwing acid projectiles. Some of it probably got splashed on you."
He groaned and stood up completely, stepping away from Hanabi. "I have nothing to do with any leaves or villages. Just leave me alone."
"I can't do that, kid," Hanabi refused. "I am under orders from the Hokage to bring you in. Plus, you can't escape. Your surroundings are filled with Outers of Kara. The only reason they haven't attacked us already is because of our people who are keeping them at bay."
"Fine," he said. "Since you want to die, I'll fulfill your wish."
He raised his arm as if about to strike Hanabi, but before he could do anything else, she struck his arm, following up immediately with multiple two-fingered strikes to his body that immobilized his chakra by blocking his tenketsu.
"As I said, you're coming with me, kid. We don't plan to hurt you," Hanabi said, looking exhausted. "Considering your state, I understand your wariness against Kara. They are our enemy as well."
"W-what is this?" He groaned in pain, unable to make even the slightest movements without feeling uncomfortable.
"I just sealed all of your chakra points," Hanabi explained patiently despite feeling anything but on the inside. But she understood that, ultimately, she was talking to a child. "Every hit of mine blocked multiple of your tenketsu, blocking the flow of chakra through your body. Come with me to Konoha. Your battle is against Kara, right? We are also against them."
As the kid seemed to be calming down, a clash near them startled him as he looked in its direction in a panic. It was Kiba in his three-headed wolf form battling an Outer of Kara alongside one of Konoha's jōnin who was being controlled by a genjutsu.
"Let me go!" The teen raised his left arm in Hanabi's direction, and she noticed a special tenketsu in the center of his palm with her Byakugan. As she analyzed it, the arm expanded and shot forward as if a tree emerged from it, forcing Hanabi to move to the side. She still kept her attention on the lone tenketsu amidst the mass that was released and observed as it released a suction that absorbed all of the chakra that was blocking the teen's tenketsu, allowing his chakra to flow again.
"Miss Ino, the kid woke up and is resisting. He has some kind of weird rhombus-shaped seal on his palm that allows him to use techniques that don't require chakra. I think that's what Kara is after. It can create mass out of nowhere that the kid can form into rough implements, and it can absorb chakra, and presumably jutsu."
"Just stall him for a little while. Sasuke should be there any moment now. Konoha shinobi are keeping the Outers occupied. I'll ask for Naruto's support in case another Inner shows up."
"Another?"
Hanabi didn't get a response and didn't dwell on it, maintaining her focus on the kid in front of her.
"Let me go, or else I'll destroy you," the angsty teen growled.
"You're just a kid. I get that you're probably traumatized, but you have to understand. This is a battlefield. You can't run away. You will either get taken by one of the Outers, or you will be taken by one of Konoha's shinobi. Neither of them will be gentle with you if you decide to run from me right now," she said, showing a rare display of patience as she talked to him. "Come with me. I give you my word that you won't be hurt."
"What's your word worth?" The teenager seemed to be calming down as he heard the multiple battles going on around him. The Konoha shinobi were all working hard to prevent the Outers from reaching Hanabi and him. Under Ino's coordination, they were able to talk calmly.
"You'll just have to trust me on that," Hanabi said. "My name is Hanabi Hyūga. What about you?"
"I'm Kawaki —" His eyes widened, and he jumped back as a fireball impacted his location.
"Found you, vessel," the newcomer spoke with a mechanical voice. "I don't know what made these morons of Konoha so desperate to take you with them, but they will fail. And they will doom their entire village by acting against us."
"Garo!" Kawaki exclaimed with a venomous tone.
"You know," Hanabi spoke with a tone full of suppressed anger. She was seething. "I'm getting real tired of everyone's bullshit here."
A blue aura emerged from her as her chakra took up a corporeal form and she released it from her entire body. "Gentle Fist: Charging Heaven."
Hanabi shot forward with an unseen speed and turned into a blurred vortex that impacted the Outer identified as Garo before he could react, hitting the mechanical man square in the chest and piercing through his heart, leaving a massive hole in his chest.
She landed some distance from Kawaki and looked at him with bloodshot eyes as multiple lacerations appeared on her arms and legs. Going by how her yellow kimono was slowly being dyed red, her entire body was now covered in similar lacerations that quickly stabilized and scabbed.
"You!" Hanabi's single word sent a shiver down Kawaki's spine despite his defiance from before. "You're coming with me."
"Fine …" Kawaki looked at Garo's dead form with a cautious expression before turning back to Hanabi, a little intimidated by the woman's current state and attitude. "But can you stay conscious?"
"I'll be fine …" Hanabi said. "I just haven't perfected this technique yet. Come with me."
Hanabi started walking in Ino's direction with Kawaki walking beside her.
"What's the deal with that seal on your hand? That rhombus."
"The less you know, the better."
"You want to get beat up, kid?" She asked. "I won't hesitate to do so. My nephew is twelve, and I beat him up all the time. So tell me straight up and don't fucking test me. Or else you will wish that one of those Outer fucks got you."
"It's the Kāma …" Kawaki said after some hesitation. "A seal that allows an Ōtsutsuki to reincarnate after death. That is why I am the vessel. Because I am supposed to be the person Isshiki Ōtsutsuki reincarnates into. He's the leader of Kara."
"Sounds like a pain … And way above my paygrade. I'll just let Sasuke and Brother-in-law deal with you."
"Huh?" Kawaki was confused by the abrupt conclusion in their conversation, and a chop to the back of his neck resulted in him losing consciousness.
"Finally," Hanabi said, looking at the cloaked man who had just appeared beside Kawaki. "Can you take care of him? He's a big hot potato right now, and I really don't have it in me to fight anyone else at the moment …"
"You need a healer," Sasuke said.
"Thanks for the advice …" Hanabi snapped before pausing. "Sorry. I'm exhausted and need a break."
"No worries," Sasuke nodded. "Take care." Instantly, he disappeared completely, disappearing from Hanabi's perception.
"I want such a convenient ability as well …" Hanabi pouted.
"Miss Ino, our target has been secured by Sasuke Uchiha. You can order a retreat now. They are in another dimension at the moment."
"Yes, Sasuke just disappeared from my perception. Your state isn't the best. Do you need support?"
"No need. I can take care of myself."
***
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